24/02/2012
NEWS STORY
Kamui Kobayashi tops the timesheets as the teams broke for lunch on the final day of the opening Barcelona test.
As was the case with Pastor Maldonado yesterday, the Japanese driver posted his best time on supersofts around a half-an-hour before the lunch bell.
Talking of Maldonado, the Venezuelan is currently second quickest, more importantly he has completed 86 laps. The Williams driver's performance, and that of the FW34, clearly inspiring sponsor Oris to sign up for another year.
Having set the pace for much of the morning, the super-soft times posted by Kobayashi and Maldonado see Jenson Button slip down to third place, just ahead of Force India's Paul di Resta, the Scot bringing out the red flags earlier when he went off at Campsa.
Busiest man thus far is Nico Rosberg, who has completed 92 laps, albeit with a best time 1.78s off Kobayashi's best.
It's been another difficult day for Caterham, the Malaysian outfit needing to change engines after experiencing an engine issue. Thus far, Heikki Kovalainen has completed just 16 laps.
Problems for Marussia also, with Charles Pic having to spend the morning kicking his heels as the team tried to sort out a suspension problem. After three days of posting in excess of 100 laps, the Russian team has thus far failed to complete a single lap today.
Mid-Sessions Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Kobayashi | Sauber | 63 | 1:22.312 | 126.509 mph |
| Maldonado | Williams | 86 | 1:22.561 | 0.249 |
| Button | McLaren | 50 | 1:23.200 | 0.888 |
| Di Resta | Force India | 45 | 1:23.304 | 0.992 |
| Massa | Ferrari | 56 | 1:23.563 | 1.251 |
| Webber | Red Bull | 40 | 1:23.774 | 1.462 |
| Vergne | Toro Rosso | 45 | 1:23.792 | 1.480 |
| Rosberg | Mercedes | 92 | 1:24.092 | 1.780 |
| Kovalainen | Caterham | 16 | 1:27.047 | 4.735 |
Check out our Friday gallery, here. More pictures to follow.